This invention relates to a forging press of the type incorporating a closeable die assembly for the production of "flashless" forgings.
Forging presses incorporating closeable die assemblies are well known for the production on non-ferrous metal components, such as brass forgings, but are not generally utilised for the production of ferrous components. This has been due in part to the high temperature, typically in the range 1100.degree.-1200.degree. C., encountered in forging steel components and the difficulties encountered in overheating of dies and in avoiding distortion of the die set during forging at this temperature. Also, it is known that greatly increased pressures within the die set are encountered if the metal billet is below the ideal forging temperature or has a greater volume than that of the required component.
However, some development work has been carried out in the area of flashless forging of ferrous components and this work is described in Proceedings of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, 1980 volume 194 number 15 in an article by T. A. Dean entitled "Design Testing and Production Performance of a Die Set for Flashless Forging". This article describes the construction of a totally enclosed one-piece die set mounted on a pressure regulated hydraulic lower bolster of a press, for accommodating overload pressures such as may occur with the use of an oversized billet or a billet that is below the ideal forging temperature.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a construction of forging press for producing flashless components which has the flexibility of use with which to produce a finished component from a ferrous or non-ferrous metal billet or pre-form which may be of greater volume than that of the required finished component and which may be press-forged within a wide temperature range varying from the relatively high temperature requirements of ferrous forging down through the `warm forging` range to cold forging.